So just as one problem is fixed, another appears ('03 TD6).

This time the front left side of the car is completely compressed. Started with a slight sag and I could hear the whissing sound of air escaping. The car could more or less maintain normal ride height while driving, but you could actually hear air escaping (pffft!) when going over bumps. I would leave the car in access mode (lowered all the way) when parking so that the air compressor wouldn't drain the battery overnight (okay logic?). Now however, it seems the suspension is not able to be raised at all from access mode (ride height indication light keeps flashing, but nothing happens in front), while the ass end sits at normalish height.

Being that I could hear bursts of air released, I naturally assumed the problem to be the air bellow itself. However when jacking up the front end to inspect the bellow with soapy water to locate leak, it is left flappy/empty and will apparently not fill with air. Could not hear compressor running either (is there an auto shutdown function if leak is too severe?).

Question is, what is the air strut's part most susceptible to leaks? Could it be the actual straps or the tube connection, or is the bellows a known weakness? And to that effect, are there any upgrade items? I see I can by a complete air strut from eBay for around 200 GBP with two year warranty. I would opt for a higher performance part with increased suspension travel and better responsiveness, if such a product exists?

There are no fault codes stored on the EAS ECU.

It's probably most likely the bag (bellow) that's gone, particularly if you've heard the air escaping. Could be a hose or something, but on the age of yours (and assuming that they're original) the bags are frankly overdue to go. The EAS can shut down completely if the bags gone, so the suspension lights on the centre console will all be out, if this is the case you'll need diagnostics to get it up and running again, an IID tool will do the trick.

In terms of price, you're better of going for an OEM part, which I think is Delphi, and you're better doing both the front ones at the same time if you can. They're not a tough job to replace yourself, but you could really do with the diagnostic tool. Also, at £200 a corner, you're maybe better going to a respected seller rather than eBay, they aren't really much more in terms of cost, but some people have found the warranty from some ebay sellers not to be worth the paper it is written on.

Thanks for the reply.

There are no warning/error lights in the instrument cluster, and the suspension level light in the centre console seem to indicate like it should. So I guess it hasn't shut down or gone into limp mode. I do have the RSW Solutions reader for diagnostics. Good call on replacing both fronts, would be a major letdown if the other side gave way days after.

Do you have any eBay vendors - or other affordable sources - that you would recommend?

I did find these (https://www.island-4x4.co.uk/spring-strut-front-l322-0206-rnb000750-rnb000750g-genuine-supplier-p-1253.html), that are claimed to be OEM/Delphi @ 190 GBP (dunno what shipping will run me yet).

I see they sell just the actual bags as rebuild kits (as opposed to the complete strut assembly), but they cost about the same and probably involves more work - so I guess there's really no point. Although I did find these bad boys from Arnott (https://www.arnotteurope.com/products/a-2933-arnott-front-right-air-spring-03-12-range-rover-l322.html) with supposed lifetime warranty. I see I can buy them locally 270 GBP pr. side.

Best to get the Delphi ones from island 4x4, once you understand the shipping cost

Delphi £380 +shipping and this includes the whole strut with new shock absorber
Arnott £540 +local delivery, if any. No strut so extra hassle of fitting to your "old" shock absorber .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

Unnecessary quote removed
No problem. If the suspension selector light is still on, then at least you don't have a hard fault to worry about. Also worth considering if you change both sides is that it's nice and easy to replace an already deflated bag, take it off and pop the new one on, but if you do change the side that's still functioning then you'll need to be able to safely deflate the bag before starting work. If your tool can do this then great, if not, a number of ages have a cross-link valve you can use, and if you don't have either of those you might struggle a little more.

As Joe says, Island 4x4 is a good place to go, they're not cheap but they'll last well. You're better off getting the entire unit rather than worrying about fitting a new bag to the old strut

Shipping it turns out was a cool 30 pounds, so that's quite alright. Think I'll opt for Island 4x4.

Good point on deflated bags making it easier to dismantle, but wouldn't access mode leave them equally deflated? Somewhat peculiarly, the car is now in constant "hot rod" mode with both sides of the front-end riding on the bumpstops. Has the ECU picked up that it will not be able to inflate the left side, and as such it compensates on the right side for a level height?

I don't think the RSW tool can deflate the bags, looking through I only saw that it could report on the individual sensors. What do you mean by a cross-link valve?

Are there any other considerations I should think of in terms of the actual swap?

I didn't try to take it off in access mode, but if you drop the car to that level and have a feel of the bag, you'll probably find that even in that mode there's an awful lot of pressure in there. The main issue is being under a car that's jacked up and is going to drop when you disconnect the hoses, I for one wouldn't want to be anywhere near it when it drops, just in case!

There is a valve on a number of models that allows you to release pressure from the bag into the opposite bag. IIRC it is behind the wheel arch covers on the drivers side. Once you've got the wheel off, take out the clips and screws holding the covers on and peel it back and you should see the valve. If you search on youtube, there are some good videos that help with this.

When mine went, I think only the one side dropped, I don't remember the other side joining in. I'd just double check that the compressor does run and it isn't a problem with hoses or connections before you start ordering struts.

The only other thing I remember doing was providing some report under the brakes, when you take the strut off they drop a bit so I just gave it a bit of support, other than that it went as expected.

There is a video on RSW on changing the struts I followed it on my old 2002 TD6 with no problems  May The FFoRRce Be With You

Great write up here
http://www.fullfatrr.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=359

I went with Delphi based on the feedback from others here.

One thing to do is to soak the two big bolts on the hub in wd40 as much as you can. Maybe spray them twice a day leading up to the job. Also dont remove either of them until you have both of them open freely. I took one out and then started the other and just adds time to the job, i didnt make that mistake on the other side.

Better to use penetrating oil.

Contrary to popular belief WD40 is a water dispersant(hence WD), not a penetrating oil

Yes absolutely correct penetrating fluid is the one you need, i keep saying wd40 by force of habit.

wd40 is a multi purpose lubricant and penetrating oil,

Thanks for the input, fellas.

I did spend the past weekend pounding rusty bolts to get stuff off to inspect the actual air bag, and it turns out it has a substantial gash. So I went ahead and ordered the parts from Island 4x4 comfortably knowing the source of the leak.

It required some wrangling to get off as the worst pain was the bolts connecting the vertical rod to the sway-bar - hopefully I didn't kink the airline while messing about. However, after putting the stuff together it turns out the EAS has gone into inactive mode.

Does this mean it will require any software related work? I noticed the RSW video on YouTube made reference to a different software than the AllComms for calibration of the EAS?

Has it thrown up the warning that EAS is inactive, or have the lights on the suspension control switch all gone out too? If it's the former, you should be able to clear it by turning the steering to left full lock for a few secs, then right full lock, then back to centre, that should sort it. If the lights are all out too then it's a hard fault and it'll need diagnostics. That may be a dealer job, but if someone around has an appropriate tool (the IID tool works a charm) then that would be significantly cheaper

Yeah, neither had lights in selector button and the message center read "EAS inactive" or something similar. My RSW software tool seemed to take care of this by deleting the fault codes, tho.

Install went smoothly, only thing I had to improvise was a retainer clip for the ABS sensor cable. Also heard a loud pop from the bellow when turning the steering wheel back and forth, but guess that's might be part of the process as it's reapplying air?

I am saving the other side until/when that fails.

Changing out these parts does not warrant a suspension (re)alignment, right?